Former Bill’s Barbecue location snapped up

The former Bill’s Barbecue location at 927 Myers St. in Richmond. (Photo by David Larter)

A Midlothian developer with big plans for the corner of Broad and Boulevard has expanded its holdings in the area.

The Rebkee Company on Dec. 21 bought the shuttered Bill’s Barbecue at 927 Myers St. for $775,000. The property is 1.3 acres and abuts the former Interbake cookie factory, which the developer plans to transform into 178 apartments.

“We don’t have any immediate plans for anything,” said Rob Hargett, a principal at Rebkee, of the former Bill’s Barbecue location. “I think I can reuse the building though, which is why I paid so much for it.”

Bill’s Barbecue last year closed the location along with all its other restaurants, after 80 years in business.

The purchase marks Rebkee’s third major buy on the Boulevard. In December 2011, it bought the 240,000-square-foot Interbake building for $6.3 million from Washington area developer Douglas Jemal. Rebkee is working with Steve Leibovic to turn the property into a mix of retail and apartments.

In July, Rebkee bought the old Stronghill restaurant space at 1200 N. Boulevard for $1.1 million and leased it to restaurateur Chris Tsui, who has transformed it into the newly opened Fat Dragon.

That brings Rebkee’s tab in that area to $8.2 million in just over a year, not counting any money spent on build-outs.

5 Comments »

What relevance does Rhoda (Help me, Rhonda or Rhoda?) Elliot’s appearance in a Mitt Romney campaign ad have with any aspect of this story? Is the writer trying to make a political statement, or does he simply suffer from ADD?

@Steve C.
If you’ve read any BizSense news stories before you should recall that they will drop tie-ins to prior articles written by their staff to give you additional background on the current story.

There’s no political statement here. They’re simply telling you that the former owner of the building thought the poor economy was their downfall leading to an opportunity for this real estate developer – who has cashed in on more than one deal because of this.

There is connection: the ad claimed the restaurant failed because of Obama’s economic plan. A successful developer snatching up the property shows that there IS demand for commercial space in this location, and it wasn’t the economy, just bad food.